Appleton firefighters, at the scene of a fire call Oct. 29 at a home on Park Avenue, has some of the lowest service costs as a department. / Wm.Glasheen/Post-Crescent Media

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Services provided by the Appleton Fire Department cost $146.22 per person last year, according to the department’s 2013 annual report.

The cost ranks sixth lowest of the 35 full-time, career fire departments in Wisconsin.

The annual report shows the average cost of the 35 departments was $170 per person. The Wauwatosa Fire Department had the highest cost at $275.54 per person, and the Fond du La Fire Department had the lowest cost at $106.86 per person.

The amounts were determined by dividing a department’s 2013 budget by the population it serves.

Appleton Fire Chief Len Vander Wyst said the rankings are both a source of pride and a source of concern for his department. The pride comes in providing an array of services at a lower per capita cost than fire departments in Green Bay, Oshkosh or Sheboygan.

“When you look at the extra services that are provided from our Hazmat team and our special operations — technical rescue and confined-space rescue — we provide a pretty good bang for the buck,” Vander Wyst said.

The concern comes in the relatively low staffing level that contributes to the low cost.

The Appleton Fire Department has 96 employees serving 73,150 people, or an average of 1.31 employees per 1,000 people served. That ranks fourth lowest of the 35 departments. The average is 1.60 employees per 1,000 people served.

Appleton operates six fire stations and assigns 29 firefighters to a 24-hour shift. Vander Wyst said the department’s minimum staffing level requires 24 firefighters per shift, so there is little leeway when firefighters take vacation, sick leave or family medical leave.

“It gets us down to the 24 quite frequently,” Vander Wyst said. “Overall, we do a pretty good job with the numbers we have, but I would never advocate that we go any lower than we currently are.”

Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue had a cost of $177.57 per person last year, slightly above the $170 average. The department has 68 employees serving 43,285 people, placing it at 1.57 employees per 1,000 people served. That’s slightly below the 1.60 average.

Neenah-Menasha Fire Chief Al Auxier said he is comfortable with his department’s middle-of-the-pack rankings for cost per capita and ratio of employees.

“It’s all relative to what the community needs,” Auxier said. “With the firefighters we have, serving two communities and staffing four stations, those are appropriate numbers for firefighter safety and to provide safety to the citizens of the communities.”